Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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tation without further discussion. She maintained Eugene ratepayers subsidized wastewater infrastructure rates for Springfield, and the more Springfield grew, the more it cost Eugene. Ms. Ortiz reiterated her support for the concept. However, she was unsure that the Eugene Emergency Medical Services goals were the same as Springfield’s goals. She recalled the Broadway tree-cutting incident in 1997 where Eugene could not speak to the actions of other responding departments, and there was no accountability in a riot situation. She asserted that those departments had their own cultures and belief systems, and while she was sure they were similar, she as concerned. Chief Groves said that in his experience, the Springfield department was a professional department with high standards. He reiterated that no money was changing hands, and without experience it was difficult to gauge the impact. He said under the current arrangement, units were moving back and forth across jurisdictional boundaries, but the incentive got the two departments on the same operating page so that incident commanders know what they were getting in emergency situations. Ms. Ortiz commended the work of the fire and police departments. Mr. Zelenka thought the concept would result in an increase in services for both communities. It should also save more lives. However, it “always mattered who pays.” He agreed that it was not a service merger, and questioned why that was not proposed. Chief Groves said that Tualatin, for example, was a fire district that served multiple communities, and that was always a possibility. What was being proposed for Eugene and Springfield was similar to the Gresham/Portland model, which enhanced automatic aid parameters. City Manager Taylor said that some fire districts were formed to get around the impacts of Ballot Measure 47/50. Historically, the metropolitan area had questioned the wisdom of creating such single purpose governments and has looked to other approaches that left the general government structure in place. The concept was intended to improve current operating and mutual aid structures. Mr. Zelenka asked how Springfield intended to cover the Peace Health River Bend campus, and what was expected of Eugene. Chief Groves said that Eugene was part of that response under its current automatic aid agreement. He pointed out the River Bend campus was a regional facility that benefited Eugene citizens as well as Springfield citizens. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Chief Groves said Springfield had two ladder trucks to fight high-rise fires, very similar in type to what Eugene owned. Those were located at the Gateway station and th the station at Main and 66 streets. Responding to a question from Mr. Poling, Chief Groves said if Springfield was unable to respond, Eugene would look to its other automatic and mutual aid agreements for coverage. There were times when the closest station was tied up, but one of the attributes of the system was it allowed units to be moved up to fill gaps in coverage. Mr. Poling asked how much input the rank and file had into the concept. Chief Groves said that staff had a fair amount of input into the concept through the battalion and line chiefs, particularly in the area of training. Mr. Poling perceived no major policy changes; he perceived the concept as “mutual aid plus.” Ms. Bettman saw a trend toward regionalizing government and putting services in the hands of bodies that were not accountable in the same way as the elected officials. She cited the MWMC and Public Safety MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 8 Work Session